Sheer speculation but if it were a lump sum our intrepid yah... delivery captains decide to maximize their earnings per day by trying to do it as fast as possible by going outside straight down the coast instead of winding through the ICW.

With a water draft of 3'8" (< 4') I can't quite fathom what would induce them to have gone outside instead of using the ditch. There must have been some sort of motivation, however misguided.

I think you answered your own question, the ICW is slow and there isn't much space. If you have a crew and experience, I don't know why you wouldn't go offshore for a couple of days, weather permitting of course.

That said, I think I'd soak up the time aboard a $500k boat as much as I could